Apocalyptic Returning

Chapter 22: Navidad Caido

December 24th, 2193

"I'm scared." Rika whimpered as her green energy flowed from her hands into Arthur's exosuit. Arthur, who was lying on the floor, a massive gash running through his stomach, fell back into unconsciousness.

"It's going to be okay." Barrio tried to reassure Rika even though she herself didn't believe the words coming from her mouth. How could she when looking at the scene that lay before her.

The once beautiful night of Christmas Eve was plagued by clouds of smoke. The amusement park the three were currently trapped in was burning to the ground. Corpses lay strung about throughout the park, some ripped to shreds and others half eaten by something far from human.

And if all of that wasn't enough to completely shatter Rika's resolve, another round of screaming started up somewhere in the distance. That, being the final straw, caused Rika to begin breaking down crying as Arthur bled out under her.

"I can't do this." Rika cried while falling to her knees beside Arthur. "I ca-can't...I can't."

Barrio dropped to her knees behind Rika and pulled her into her embrace. "Rika please, Arthur's not going to make it without you." Barrio pleaded, the trees around them begging to sway with the breeze.

By the time Rika regained her composure, the distant screams finally ceased. Only to give birth to a new sound, a guttural screech which quickly evolved into a monstrous roar. And after the first, came multiple more roars in the distance, all calling to the other as a form of communication.

"We're going to be fine." Barrio whispered to herself in a panic. "The others will be here soon. We just got to, just gotta wait for them to find us."

"Barrio" Rika whimpered, causing Barrio to break out of her trance.

"What?" Barrio quickly caught on to what had frightened Rika so greatly and she honestly couldn't help but let out a small cry herself.

In the darkness that engulfed the tree line around where Rika, Barrio and Arthur currently were, were twelve glowing red eyes. Each eye examined over a different part of the three before a screeching sound was made from the tree line. Which caused multiple other screeches to call from the distance.

Upon the roar finally finishing, a monstrous mutated leg stepped out from the darkness. But before the figure could be completely revealed, a slash of energy cut through the beast that resided in the darkness. And out of the darkness, walked Musashi, blood covering his exosuit and his left arm broken in multiple places.

Musashi stepped past what little of the beast was exposed to the light and fell to his knee before reaching Rika. "The others are on their way here right now." He said as another wave of screeching started up, this one noticeably closer than the last. After saying that, he forced himself back to his feet and limped to Rika.

"Is he going to make it?" Musashi asked.

The long moment of silence that preceded Rika's answer left Musashi and Barrio full of dread. "I don't know. The virus spreading through his body is inhibiting me from properly healing his wounds."

"Where's Foxtrot?" Barrio watched in the distance as the amusement park Ferris wheel exploded with flames and plummeted to the ground.

"He got caught up saving some civilians and we ended up getting separated." Musashi informed. "That was on the east side of the park." He pointed to the left of the burning Ferris wheel with his left arm. Before Musashi could pull his arm back, his hand was severed from his wrist with a spray of blood.

Unfazed by the loss of his left hand, Musashi simply turned his head to look back into the veil of darkness that encompassed the tree line. "Your hand!" Rika cried out from behind Musashi as he drew his katana.